Mode of preserving butter



v N. D.IWETMRE.

'Preserving Butter. y No. 31,638. l Patented March 5, 1861.

UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

N. D. XVIQTMORE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

MODE OF PRESERVING BUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 31,638, dated March 5, 1861.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, N. D. IVETMORE, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Preserving Butter; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and complete description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figures l and 3 are perspective views. Figs. 2 and l are vertical sections.

The same letters refer to similar parts in the different views. p

My improvement relates to a new mode of preserving butter, lard, or any similar material, by having it well prepared, and packing it compactly in glass or earthen vessels; hermet-ically sealing them, and then surrounding the whole with gypsum or plaster of paris, which keeps the butter cool, and entirely excludes it from the action of the atmosphere. In this way butter or lard can be preserved any length of time in all its original sweetness.

In Fig. 2, A, represents the butter, which after it is well worked and prepared, is packed in the glass or earthen vessels B, B, which are then placed, and pressed closely together. As the butter is packed in the vessels, so that it is convex on the top, when they are pressed together, the water and atmosphere are excluded. The superfluous butter is then removed from the outside, and the vessels where they come together, are hermetically sealed, with a strip of adhesive plaster or wax, as at C, C, in Fig. 2. There is a mold prepared,.larger every way than the vessel containing the butter, in the bottom of which is put a coat-ing of plaster. The vessel is then placed in the mold, and the plaster poured in around and over it, until it is entirely surrounded, with the plaster, as shown by Fig. l, only there is no opening at D, that being removed to show the inside.

A single vessel may be used instead of two as shown by Figs. 3 and 4, in which case, the butter A, is packed in a vessel, and a concave covering R, of glass, or earthen ware, pressed down on the top and hermetically sealed around the edges as at H, H. If the butter is packed convexly on the top, a fiat covering will answer'the purpose. It is then placed in a mold of a suitable size,

and surrounded with plaster in the way before described, forming a package similar to L, in Fig. 3, l), representing an opening, where the plaster is removed, for the purpose of showing the interior.

The packages can be of any desirable form or size.

Butter in this way is entirely excluded from the impurities of the atmosphere, and can be kept any length of time, retaining all its original flavor. As the plaster is such a poor conductor of heat, the packages can be handled, or surrounded by very warm atmosphere, without affecting the temperature of the butter.

With this arrangement, butter can be transported, and kept in warm climates, in all its original purity. These packages will also be of great utility in sea voyages, and to transport butter to foreign ports. They can easily be opened by sawing around the packages, about the place where the two vessels meet, and moistening the plaster, which can soon be crumbled off. A package can be sawed in different places, and moistened, when the plaster can easily be removed from the whole vessel.

Then butter is put up in large quantities, as in firkins, when a firkin is opened, it is seldom it can all be used, until itis spoiled, by exposure to the atmosphere, but with this arrangement, packages can be put up of such a size as to last a certain length of time, as long as the butter will retain its flavor when exposed to the atmosphere.

I do not intend to confine myself to the use of gypsum alone, in inclosing the packages. Any other poor conductor of heat will answer the same purpose, but I prefer to use at least a portion of gypsum, to secure the required hardness. The gypsum, or other material should be used in a semifiuid state, as all stuccowork is made.

that I claim as my improvement and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The mode of preserving butter, by compressing it in vessels, and then hermetically sealing the'joints at C, and H, and then incasing the whole with gypsum when in a plastic state all in the manner and for the purposes described.

N. D. IVETMORE.

S. H. MATHER. 

